


A Shot of Charisma

by jojotier



Category: Original Work
Genre: (that's probably coming later), Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Bad Flirting, Bad Pick-Up Lines, Coffee Shops, Flirting, Fluff, Like, M/M, Meet-Cute, Necromancy, Pick-Up Lines, Slice of Life, Starbucks, Werewolves, and all knockoffs therein, giving numbers, why is julius so bad at this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 02:39:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16317557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jojotier/pseuds/jojotier
Summary: Taika doesn't mean to get charmed by a werewolf- but here he is. Charmed. Both literally and figuratively. Even if the literal part was all his fault in the first place.





	A Shot of Charisma

**Author's Note:**

> this was something ive had in my drafts for a long while, so i decided to post it! may finish up a second part for halloween, haha...
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

At that moment, Taika decided to take a little breath and not get too worked up over a little thing like the customer that had just shown up and demanded a coffee with organic metal flaked metal for his drink. 

Organic, metal, made and used manually by spells. It had taken all of Taika’s willpower while trying to explain that this is a Stardust Brewery, not anything as fancy as all that, to not just hit himself with a nearby tray and slip into the merciful embrace of unconsciousness. But no. Knocking yourself out while working was considered rude. Unfortunate.

He’d been riling himself up a bit after that, and he still had at least three more hours of standing there and trying not to let the oppressive realities of retail hell drag his mind screaming into the abyss before he could go home, feed his cats, and go to bed. It was a slow day, which was both good and bad. 

It was good in that he didn’t actually have to deal with people, but bad in that he was slowly, very slowly, driving himself out of his mind thinking about the thoughts barreling around his head like molasses since he couldn’t very well do a little bit of spellcasting behind the counter. That tended to freak non-supernatural folk out more than a woman telling Republicans her views on reproductive rights. The little shop there had a bunch of charms prepared anyway, so there was really no need. All he had to do was rein his thoughts in a little and

Then, of course, Taika heard the bell to the shop ring and he silently died a little bit on the inside, because while his boredom would be abated for the moment, that meant he had to actually interact with people. Oh, joy. 

His gaze lazily shifted to where the newcomer had come in, and he paused. The other was smaller than him, a lot thicker with muscle and even then a bit chubbier, and had a veritable nest of black hair on his head that seemed to have a few stray curls coming from it. As if he’d never been able to find the right comb to get through that mane of his on account of the fact that his hair seemed liable to gobble it up. 

He was walking as relaxed as anything, coming up to the counter with a little grin on his face that showed a mouth filled to the brim with sharp teeth. So not human, but still, undeniably attractive.

Taika figured that there was definitely something with this guy that maybe could make this somewhat pleasant (if only because he was nice to look at) and then the stranger had to open his mouth. “Well hey there, sweet thing. Could I get a caramel mocha?” Grin widening, voice dropping a little so that all that faux charm could drip onto Taika’s clean counter, and brown eyes that looked somewhat predatory- and of course, Taika had spoken too soon. This guy was oozing with the kind of charm that frat boys are generally given in Lifetime movies glorifying the sororities that messed around with their killers.

“Yeah, coming right up!” The young witch still gave a faux cheerful smile, turning around and letting it drop off as soon as it wasn’t visible to this customer. He moved to start making the coffee, before turning back when the guy called.

The guy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, a little smile on his lips as he said, “Hey, if it ain’t too much trouble, could I also get a shot of charisma in that? There’s someone I’m trying to impress, you dig? Really cute guy, kinda tall, blond hair and green eyes? Yeah, he’s sorta out of my league, but I’m definitely going to try for it. D’ya mind giving me a shot of charisma in there?” Something was up. Honestly, though, Taika couldn’t care less about this guy’s romantic journey. Even as he pretended to nod sympathetically, he had to wonder- Why was he being told all this?

“Of course- and could I also get your name?” Was what Taika politely asked, because of course with Starbucks dominating the coffee business every other cafe had to step up and give the Experience™ that their retail counterpart gave while also delivering subpar desserts probably gotten from a rat-infested hovel of a bakery with their dumb bean nonsense. Not that this shop was really one of the worst knockoffs- the owners honestly poured quite a bit of love into this place and their bakes and coffee. Literally. They were witches too.

The guy nodded and paused, saying, “Yeah- though actually, lemme write it down. It’s kind of a weird name. Don’t know what my folks were thinking, naming their pups strings of numbers, but here we are.” 

Taika had heard weirder things. When one was a witch who worked in a shop mostly catering to harried college students wigging out over finals and middle-aged Helens with two kids and a white Subaru in an all vegan settlement or whatever, you got used to it. The guy in front of him tore off a piece of napkin from a holder and started writing on it with a pen labeled Howlell College. Then Taika received the seven numbers and squinted at them, trying to see if he had that right because those first three numbers looked like this area code.

“That name’s kinda weird, right?” The guy in front of him was grinning, still, as if this all was the most hilariously dandy thing in the crock pot of mush that was this interaction. “People call me Julius- but you can call me anytime you need someone who’s good with making people howl!” 

Taika just looked at this guy, watching him for a few seconds to see if he got that right. Oh man. This guy was serious, under all that affected weirdness. If Taika wasn’t so monumentally annoyed with life itself, he might have even found it endearing, in only the most laughable of ways because really? This Julius guy was going with this sappy bullshit? But then again, he was a werewolf, it looked like- and werewolves were kind of known for their romcom cliche worthy presence. It was almost pitiable.

So Taika replied with, “No thanks, Nine-Four-Nine- I have a lot of work.” When the coffee was done, he wrote the guy’s number on the cup instead of Julius too.

“Oh… alright then,” Julius said, seeming a little disappointed, “well, in any case- thanks for the service an’ all. It’s appreciated.”

“Mhm.” 

Except, weirdly enough his fingers slipped somewhere and then Taika found himself writing down his own number, a little fuzziness cracking in the pads of his pointer finger and thumb. Julius, who seemed a little dejected, instantly lit up the moment he received his coffee, giving Taika a genuine grin. “Thanks anyway then, lovely! Have a nice day now- don’t let the other customers’ bites get ya down.” And with that, he was off, walking with a bit of a pep in his step. Taika blinked. What?

Despite being a magic relations major and practitioner, Taika only realized when Julius left the shop with his souped-up drink that some of that charisma had spilled over onto his hands, and that he might have just made a colossal mistake.


End file.
